Register Real Estate Advisors

Effective December 18, 2009, Harris County Toll Road Authority offers a discounted toll program to Disabled Veterans and Purple Heart recipients, as well as recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The measure was approved by Harris County Commissioners Court on Sept. 29, 2009. The Toll Road Authority developed the program pursuant to the recently enacted state law which allows tolling agencies to grant discounted tolls to specified veterans. To learn more about the program, check out the Veteran Discount Tolling Program Frequently Asked Questions at www.hctra.org.

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Chief Economist Dr. Mark Dotzour is crisscrossing the nation delivering his economic message and collecting valuable data for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.
Among the comments he heard this week at meetings of the National Association of Business Economics in Washington, D.C., were:
• “Clearly there is virtually no threat of inflation in the next two years.”
• “There’s virtually no chance of the Fed increasing interest rates (maybe a symbolic small move aside).”
• “The last recession, the Fed waited until unemployment was 5.5 percent before tightening.”
• “We won’t get to that level for several years.”
• “The threat is for deflation across the globe, with the exception of China.”
• “China’s money supply is up 30 percent from last year. Our M3 (the Fed’s measure of the money supply) is virtually unchanged from a year ago, and available credit is less than last year.”
“The Congressional Budget Office said the United States is going to be unable to pay for the social contract with America,” said Dotzour. “It’s only a matter of when and how the adjustments for failed promises have to take place. Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security cannot be funded at current levels of spending.”

DEER PARK (Bloomberg BusinessWeek) – Deer Park has been named “best affordable suburb” in Texas by Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
To choose the top town for each state, the magazine looked at living expenses, income, crime rate, school data, commute, local economy, racial diversity and green space in 863 communities.
Located near Houston, Deer Park has a population of 31,049, a median family income of $89,348, median home price of $131,709, an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent and a violent crime index of 35.

The Spring Lakes HOA will hold the annual neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt on April 3rd at 10 a.m. Don’t forget the egg basket and your camera. The Easter Bunny will be hopping by! If your children will be participating, please provide 12 candy filled eggs per child by March 31st to 506 Spring Lakes Haven. If you are currently a Spring Lakes resident I look forward to seeing you there! If you’d like to become a Spring Lakes resident, you can visit BuySpringLakes.com .

The lender must disclose a good faith estimate of all settlement costs. A check to cover your closing costs will probably have to be a cashier’s check. The title company or other entity conducting the closing will tell you the required amount for:

• Downpayment
• Loan origination fees
• Points, or loan discount fees, you pay to receive a lower interest rate
• Appraisal fee
• Credit report
• Private mortgage insurance premiums
• Insurance escrow for homeowners insurance, if being paid as part of the mortgage and insurance in escrow accounts as they are paid with the mortgage , then pay the insurance or taxes for you.
• Deed recording fees
• Title insurance policy premiums
• Survey
• Inspection fees – building inspection, termites, etc.
• Notary fees
• Prorations for your share of costs, such as utility bills and property taxes

A note about Prorations: Because such costs are usually paid on either a monthly or yearly basis, you might have to pay a bill for services used by the sellers before they moved out. Proration is a way for the sellers to pay you back or for you to pay them for bills they may have paid in advance. For example the gas company usually sends a bill each month for the gas used during the previous month. But assume you buy the home on the 6th of the month. You would owe the gas company for only the days from the 6th to the end of the month. The seller would owe for the first five days. The bill would be prorated for the number of days in the month, and then each person would be responsible for the days of his or her ownership.

Reprinted from REALTOR Magazine Online by permission of the National Association of Realtors, Copyriht 2005, All rights reserved.

1. Get rid of clutter. Throw out or file stacks of newspapers and magazines. Pack away most of your small decorative items. Store out-of-season clothing to make closets seem roomier. Clean out the garage.

2. Wash your windows and screens to let more light into the interior.

3. Keep everything extra clean. Wash fingerprints from light switch plates. Mop and wax floors. Clean the stove and refrigerator. A clean house makes a better first impression and convinces buyers that the home has been well cared for.

4. Get rid of smells. Clean carpeting and drapes to eliminate cooking odors, smoke, and pet smells. Open the windows.

5. Put higher wattage bulbs in light sockets to make rooms seem brighter, especially basements and other dark rooms. Replace any burnt-out bulbs.

6. Make minor repairs that can create a bad impression. Small problems, such as sticky doors, torn screens, cracked caulking, or a dripping faucet, may seem trivial, but they’ll give buyers the impression that the house isn’t well maintained.

7. Tidy your yard. Cut the grass, rake the leaves, trim the bushes, and edge the walks. Put a pot or two of bright flowers near the entryway.

8. Patch holes in your driveway and reapply sealant, if applicable.

9. Clean your gutters.

10. Polish your front doorknob and door numbers.

Reprinted from REALTOR Magazine Online by permission of the National Association of Realtors, Copyriht 2005, All rights reserved.

If your income and savings are making home buying a challenge, consider these options…

1. Investigate local, state, and national down payment assistance programs. These programs give loans or grants to cover all or part of your required down payment. National programs include the Nehemiah program ( http://www.getdownpayment.com ) and the American Dream Down Payment Fund from the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development ( http://www.hud.gov ).
2. Get the seller to provide financing. In some cases, sellers may be willing to finance all or part of the purchase price of the home and let you repay them gradually, just as you do a mortgage.
3. Consider a shared-appreciation, or shared equity, arrangement. Under this arrangement, your family, friends, or even a 3rd party may buy a portion of the home and thus share in any appreciation when the home is sold. The owner/occupant usually pays the mortgage, property taxes, and all maintenance costs, but all investors’ names are usually on the mortgage. There are companies that can help you find such an investor if your family can’t participate.
4. Get help from your family. Perhaps a family member will loan you money for the down payments and/or act as a cosigner for the mortgage. Lenders often like to have a cosigner if you have little credit history.
5. See if you can qualify for a short-term 2nd mortgage to give you the money to make a higher down payment. This may be possible if you have a good income and little other debt.

Reprinted from Realtor Magazine Online by permission of the National Association of Realtors, Copyright 2005, All rights reserved.

Spring Lakes currently has a lot of homes for sale. You can learn more about this beautiful gated community at Buy Spring Lakes.
I would be happy to show you a home that is currently for sale. I am the Spring Lakes Specialist because I live there, I work there, and I play there! Come out and see what this great community can offer you and your family. It is convent to I45 and the Hardy Toll Road. Get to The Woodlands in 10 minutes or Minute Maid Park in 25 minutes. You’re going to love it!

This Saturday, March 13th, I will be holding open 20223 Cypresswood Glen in the Cypresswood Lake Subdivision in Spring, TX from 12 – 2pm. The gate code to the subdivision is 1057. You can get directions, see photos of the home, watch a video, and get more information by visiting http://rrea.com/blog/134900-20223-cypresswood-glen-spring-tx-77373/ . I hope you’ll stop in on Saturday!

EBBY STILL PARTYING AT 99!

DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) – The buzz around town is not about the Mavericks or the Cowboys this week, but about local real estate legend Ebby Halliday and her 99th birthday.
Although her birthday is today, the celebration began Friday and will continue until tomorrow.
The founder of Ebby Halliday Realtors, which began in 1945 and is now a $4 billion business, wanted a low-key birthday, but Dallas did not think that was suitable.
The festivities began Friday night at the Dallas Mavericks game, where her favorite player, Dirk Nowitzki, presented her with an autographed team ball, and have continued on party buses, in church, at the Winspear Opera House and with lunch with T. Boone Pickens.
“If I live to be a hundred, and the celebration is any faster or more furious, I won’t be able to stand it,” Halliday said.